Do Uk Reality Tv Documentaries Have Any Anthropological Credentials?
Do UK Reality TV Documentaries have any Anthropological Credentials?
Introduction
Nanook of the North (1922) by Robert J Flaherty portrays the life of an Inuit family living in the Canadian Arctic and is widely regarded as the first of the then new genre, documentary cinema. At the time the piece was praised for its innovative yet entertaining value and set a new president for non fiction cinema. As one journalist then expressed ‘Here was drama, rendered far more vital than any trumpedup drama could ever be by the fact that it was all real’( Sherwood 1923: p 2). Since then there has been a perspective shift towards the practice of documentary making, with an endeavour for authenticity. Flahertys work has come under criticism for staging certain events for the purpose of entertainment and subsequently deceiving audiences.
Having watched Nanook of the North and read the subsequent commentary, it prompted me to think about the current trend for ‘reality’ based television programs in the UK1 . A prime example of such broadcast is the series One Born Every Minute (2011)2, which claims to show the day to day activity of a maternity ward in Southampton. Unlike the large prohibiting equipment used in Flahertys era, footage is taken from forty small fixed digital cameras strategically placed around the hospital. Each episode documents two couple’s time spent on the ward ending with the birth of their child. The programme has been praised by British press for its no thrills approach to mainstream documentary making.
‘One Born has seen Channel 4 strip things right back to basics. Just a camera, watching people doing something they 'd be doing anyway, with no glances towards the lens or talk of how subjects are portrayed "by the editing".’ (Raeside :2011)
1 2
This will be referred to as reality tv from now on One Born Every Minute will be referred to as OBEM from now on
1
Its first series won a British Academy award for ‘Best factual Series’.
Introduction
Nanook of the North (1922) by Robert J Flaherty portrays the life of an Inuit family living in the Canadian Arctic and is widely regarded as the first of the then new genre, documentary cinema. At the time the piece was praised for its innovative yet entertaining value and set a new president for non fiction cinema. As one journalist then expressed ‘Here was drama, rendered far more vital than any trumpedup drama could ever be by the fact that it was all real’( Sherwood 1923: p 2). Since then there has been a perspective shift towards the practice of documentary making, with an endeavour for authenticity. Flahertys work has come under criticism for staging certain events for the purpose of entertainment and subsequently deceiving audiences.
Having watched Nanook of the North and read the subsequent commentary, it prompted me to think about the current trend for ‘reality’ based television programs in the UK1 . A prime example of such broadcast is the series One Born Every Minute (2011)2, which claims to show the day to day activity of a maternity ward in Southampton. Unlike the large prohibiting equipment used in Flahertys era, footage is taken from forty small fixed digital cameras strategically placed around the hospital. Each episode documents two couple’s time spent on the ward ending with the birth of their child. The programme has been praised by British press for its no thrills approach to mainstream documentary making.
‘One Born has seen Channel 4 strip things right back to basics. Just a camera, watching people doing something they 'd be doing anyway, with no glances towards the lens or talk of how subjects are portrayed "by the editing".’ (Raeside :2011)
1 2
This will be referred to as reality tv from now on One Born Every Minute will be referred to as OBEM from now on
1
Its first series won a British Academy award for ‘Best factual Series’.
Bibliography: Deacon, D H. et al. (2007) Researching Communications: A Practical Guide to Methods of Cultural Analysis, London: Hodder Arnold. Dimelow, G ( 2013) The Fried Chicken Shop: A Depressing Snapshot Of Britain In Recession. Available at http://sabotagetimes.com/reportage/thefriedchickenshopadepressingsnapshotofthe modernhighstreet/ [ Accssed 8th April 2013] Grimshaw, A and Ravets, A .(2009 ) Rethinking observational cinema, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute . vol 15, pp 538 556. Henley, P. (1996) The Promise of the Ethnographic Film, Visual Anthropology, vol.13, pp.207226. Henley, P. (2001) Fly in the Soup. Available at http://www.lrb.co.uk/v23/n12/paulhenley/flyinthesoup [ Accssed 8th April 2013] Mead, M. (1995) Visual Anthropology in a Discipline of Words. In : P Hockings. Principles of Visual Anthropology. London :Mouton de Gruyter p 3 10. Møhl, P (2011): Mise en scène, Knowledge and Participation: Considerations of a Filming Anthropologist, Visual Anthropology: Published in cooperation with the Commission on Visual Anthropology, 24:3, 227245 Morris, D. ( 2002) Peoplewatching: The Desmond Morris Guide to Body Language, 10 London: Vintage. Nichols, B. (2001) Introduction to Documentary, Bloomington: Indiana University Press. One Born Every Minute (2011) : First Broadcasted. Available at http://www.youtube.com/show/oneborneveryminute [ Accssed 8th April 2013] One Born Every Minute The Truth (2013) https://www.facebook.com/notes/oneborneveryminutethetruth/thejourneyofbirth/42299 5684439914 [ Accssed 8th April 2013] Sherwood, R E. (1923) The Best Moving Pictures of 192223, Boston: Small, Maynard & Company. pages 38. The Fried Chicken Shop: Life in a Day. (2013) : First Brodcasted [video online] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/show/thefriedchickenshoplifeinaday [ Accssed 8th April 2013] Raeside, J. (2011) One Born Every Minute: Labours of Love. Available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/tvandradio/tvandradioblog/2011/jan/10/oneborneveryminute 11 Syllabus Afonso, A I. ed. (2004) Working Images: Visual Research and Representation in Ethnography, London: Routledge. p 90 139. ~ 49 pages Deacon, D H. et al. (2007) Researching Communications: A Practical Guide to Methods of Cultural Analysis, London: Hodder Arnold. Ch 9 ~ 20 pages Dimelow, G ( 2013) The Fried Chicken Shop: A Depressing Snapshot Of Britain In Recession. Available at http://sabotagetimes.com/reportage/thefriedchickenshopadepressingsnapshotofthe modernhighstreet/ [ Accssed 8th April 2013] ~ 2 page Henley, P. (1996) The Promise of the Ethnographic Film, Visual Anthropology, vol.13, pp.207226. ~ 19 pages. Henley, P. (2001) Fly in the Soup. Available at http://www.lrb.co.uk/v23/n12/paulhenley/flyinthesoup [ Accssed 8th April 2013] ~ 3 pages One Born Every Minute (2011) : First Broudcasted [Video online ] Available at http://www.youtube.com/show/oneborneveryminute [ Accssed 8th April 2013] ~ 60 mins One Born Every Minute The Truth (2013) https://www.facebook.com/notes/oneborneveryminutethetruth/thejourneyofbirth/42299 5684439914 [ Accssed 8th April 2013] ~ 2 page Morris, D. ( 2002) Peoplewatching: The Desmond Morris Guide to Body Language, London: Vintage. Introduction. ~ 3 pages 12 Raeside, J. (2011) One Born Every Minute: labours of love [Available at] http://www.guardian.co.uk/tvandradio/tvandradioblog/2011/jan/10/oneborneveryminute . ~ 2 pages The Fried Chicken Shop: Life in a Day. (2013) : First Broudcasted [video online] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/show/thefriedchickenshoplifeinaday [ Accssed 8th April 2013]. ~ 60 mins 13